Citrus fruit press



April l, 1952 J. H. CLARK CITRUS FRUIT PRESS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 25, 1949 BY Ny April 1, 1952 .1. H. CLARK y CITRUS FRUIT PRESS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 25, 1949 j INVENTOR.

$7,535@ /zf Clar/ @y W April l 1952 J. H. CLARK 2,591,510 l CITRUS FRUIT PRESS Filed March 25, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VEN TOR.

?? Y BY April 1, 1952 J. H. CLARK crTRus FRUIT PRESS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 25, 1949 Patented Apr. 1, 1952 CITRUS FRUIT PRESS Jesse H. Clark, Chicago, Ill., assigner to Cory Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application March 25, 1949, Serial No. 83,413

(Cl. M100-4.0)

12 Claims.

1 This invention has to do with a power-operated apparatus for expressing the juice from citrus fruits and the like. In particular the present .apparatus is designed to meet Ythe needs of restaurants and institutions serving large numbers of people, where speedy operation and substantially complete extraction of juice are lirnportant factors.

A major object or this invention Vis to provide a power-operated citrus juice press which will .cut and press a whole fruit in a single continuous operation within a relatively short space of time, and which requires only a minimum of attention on the part of the operator.

Another object is to devise a machine of this character which may be produced to sell at a price to render its use economically feasible, and which, preferably, does not occupy an excessive amount of otherwise useful space.

Avfurther object is to provide a power-operated citrus juice press which is simple to operate and substantially eliminates Ythe possibility of injury to the operator.

Still another important object is lto devise a power-operated machine in the nature of a citrus juice press which will not become stalled in event Ythe fruit operated upon should o ier excessive crushing resistance, or in event of some highly resistant foreign object being inadvertently lodged between the press jaws.

Another object is to devise simple power translmissionmeans whereby a greatly'increased mechanical advantage is afforded during the most `heavily loaded portion of each cycle of operation, Without increasing the time interval per cycle, l,thus making it possible to employ aninexpensive low-powered motor where it would otherwise be necessary to resort to a substantially larger and heavier motor involving added cost as well.

An additional object of -this invention is to provide a citrus juice press wherein lthe eX- fpressed juice is effectively restrained during the :pressing operation againstejection beyond the `confines of the pressing area, thereby maintainling highly sanitary conditions and avoiding Ythe necessity of cleaning the machine at excessively frequent intervals.

` citrus juiceextractor, and mQlTe particularlyof the-housingwhich encloses the workingparts;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the housing, showing the mechanism in side elevation, various moving parts being shown in their open-press positions;

Fig. 3, which is a view similar to Fig. 2, shows the moving parts in their closed-press positions;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the press mechanism andhorizontal section of the housing;

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the press mechanism and verticalsection of the housing;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken at line 6-6 of Fig. 2, showing details of the press jaws and the juice receptacle;

Fig. '7 is an enlarged showing of a detail of the power transmission mechanism;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged showing of the pressurelimiting arrangement which serves to prevent stalling whenever an inordinately heavy load is encountered;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged section at line 9--9 of Fig. 5, showing the transmission gears;

Fig. 10 is a vertical sectional view illustrating an alternative arrangement which eliminates the need of a brake for stopping the press vat the end of each cycle; and

Fig. 11 is a diagram of the motor control circuit.

The housing I5 preferably is a hollow diecasting overlying and attached to a rectangular bottom plate I6, forming both a bottom closure and a base-plate for the press mechanism, which latter is identified as a whole by reference numeral I8. An opening 20 is formed in the front wall ofthe housing for insertion and withdrawal of a cup-like receptacle 2| having a handle 22. A boss 2,3 integral with the top wall of the housing `is designed to receive a starting switch 24 (see Fig. 11) having a pushbutton 25. It will be observed that the top wall of the housing curves downwardly to the rear, thus contributing to a very attractive design; and, as will presently appear, this is made possible without enlargement of over-all dimensions by a well-conceived design of the press mechanism per se.

The receptacle 2| has an internal annular ledge 21 (see Fig. 43) on which is removably seated a die-cast jaw-block 28 constituting theelower jaw of the press. This jaw-block 28 is lformed with four upstanding cutter blades 39 arranged in quadrature. These may be either steel blades cast in place or of die-cast metal integral with the body of said jaw-block. The top surface 29 of the jaw-block 28 slopes downwardly in vtwo opposite directions symmetrically from the center (see Fig. 6),-Mand 4suitable `openings 3l are provided at the bottom of eachv sloping top surface through which the expressed juice can flow into the chamber 32 at the bottom of the receptacle, underneath the jaw-block 28.

The housing I is formed with two opposed vertical guide slots 35 near the front thereof (see Figs. 2 and 4) in which are slidably disposed two oppositely projectinglugs 36 which are integrally cast parts of a vertically reciprocable ram 31 including a face plate 38 to which is detachably secured an upper jaw-block 42, preferably a diecasting. This upper jaw-block has a bottom sur? face 43 which slopes downwardly in .opposite directions symmetrically from the center (see Fig'.

6) to match the top surface 29 of the lower jawblock 28; and said upper jaw-block is formed with four radial slots 44 disposed-in quadrature and designed to admit the blades 30 so that the upper jaw-block can move downwardly to a sufficient extent to ell'ect adequate compression of an orange or grapefruit disposed within the gap between the upper and lower jaw-blocks.

In order to confine within the receptacle 2l such juice as may be expelled upwardly and forcibly from the fruit under compression, it is desirable that the receptacle be provided with an upwardly extending apron 26, and that the upper jaw-block be provided with a depending apron 49 positioned to enter the receptacle 2| as the upper jaw-block descends. Said depending apron is, of course, slotted and cut away to the extent necessary to cleai` the lower jaw-block.

The face plate 38 of the ram 31 has a Teslot 39 extending thereacross and designed to receive a T-strip 45 constituting an integral part of the upper jaw-block 42. The T-strip 45, when inter engaged with the T-slot 39, serves to secure the upper jaw-block 42 to the face plate 3S in such manner that the upper jaw-block can be detached from the ram and removed from the housing through the front opening 20 and be re-attached in like manner. A spring-pressed ball detent 46 (see Fig. 6) carried by the face plate 38 engages a recess in the top surface of the upper jaw-block 42 and serves to yieldably retain this upper jawblock against unintentional displacement while at the same time enabling the jaw-block to be removed without too much resistance.

The two lugs 36 are of right-angu1ar form, as viewed in Fig. 4, and to one leg of each there is pivotally connected at 46 one end of a short link 41 the other end of which is pivotally connected by means of a pin 48 to the distal end of a level 50 which is fulcrumed on a pin 5| attached to one end of a rocker 52 pivoted to a frame casting 53. It is to be noted that there are two each of the links 41, levers 50, and fulcrum pins 5|.

The ram 31, together with the upper jaw-block 42, is normally held in its uppermost position (see Fig. 2) by links 41 and levers 58, which latter are supported by pitmans 54 which are pivotally connected thereto at 55.

The lower end of each pitman 54 is pivotally connected to a crankpin 56 carried by a crank arm 51 (see Fig. 5) and rotatable about a trunnion 58 carried by or journaled-in an upright bracket 60 secured at its lower end to the bottom plate I6. The two crankpins 56 move concurrently through a circular orbit, one revolution per cycle of operation of the machine, starting from the position illustrated in Fig. 2 and at the completion of each cycle returning thereto to remain until the machine is re-started by depressparent that the reciprocatory motion imparted' 4 to the pitmans 54 is transmitted to the levers 50 and thence to the ram 31 via the links 41, and that the ram and upper jaw-block 42 are reciprocated vertically toward and away from the lower j aw-block 26.

In order to minimize the over-all time per cycle of operation and yet provide adequate pressure for squeezing the fruit, while at the same time making use of only a relatively small low-powered motor, the transmission about to be described is designed to vary the drive ratio so that increased mechanical advantage and the concomitant speed reduction obtains during only the fractional part of each cycle when maximum jaw pressure is required. The transmission includes two arms 62, 62 keyed to the respective ends of a horizontal power shaft 63 journaled in the frame 53, the axis of which shaft is offset laterally to a considerable extent from the axis of the trunnions 58. The two cranks 62 are each bifurcated, as most clearly shown in Fig. 7, to provide a radially extending slot 64 within each of which is positioned one of the two crank pins 56, individually.

It will be apparent from inspection of Fig. 'I that the center-to-center distance between the axis of the power shaft 63 and that of the crank pin 55 is a Variable, due to the eccentricity of the shaft 63 with respect to the trunnion 58, and that the effective length of the arm 62 decreases as the crank pin 56 moves downwardly along its circular orbit from the stationary position in which it is shown in full lines in Fig. 7 to the intermediate position in which it is shown .dotted in the same figure. Therefore, it will be apparent that as the ram 31 and the upper jawblock 42 move downwardly, the speed thereof decreases, comparatively, and the mechanical advantage increases, so that the pressure capable of being engendered with the available power is greatly augmented. Otherwise expressed, enough pressure can be had with a low-powered motor to adequately squeeze the most resistant fruit without increasing the elapsed time per cycle over and above that which would otherwise obtain with a more costly motor of considerably greater power.

Driving power is obtained from a small fractional horsepower motor 65 mounted between the two sides of the frame casting 53 and supported thereby with its armature shaft 66 extending downwardly and provided with a worm 61 (see Figs. 9 and 10) which is aflixed to said shaft and rotatable therewith. As shown most clearly in Fig. 9, the worm 61 is meshed with a worm wheel 68 which is freely rotatable on a shaft 69 and directly connected or integral with a small spur pinion 16. The latter pinion is, in turnymeshed with a gear 12 which is freely mounted on the power shaft 63 and is integral with a pinion 13 that is meshed with a gear 14 keyed or otherwise secured to the shaft 69; a pinion 15 is also keyed or otherwise secured to the shaft 69 and meshed with a gear 16 that is keyed to the power shaft 63. The several gears and pinions thus enumerated form a speed-reduction gear train between the motor 65 and the power shaft 63 which rotates at a speed corresponding to the predetermined cycle interval of the machine which may conveniently be of the order of ve to eight seconds.

The rockers 52 to which the levers 50 are pivotally connected at 5I are carried by the frame casting 53 on which they are fulcrumed at 18; and the end of each said rockers remote from. the fulcrum pin- 5l is attached in each case to the upper end of a tension spring 19 vthe lower end of which is anchored to a bracket 80 supported by the frame 53. Obviously, the springs 19 bias their associated rockers 52 rotationally (counter clockwise as viewed in Figs. 2 and 3 and '1) and it will be noted that there are -two stop screws v82 associated, individually, with the two rockers and which function as abutments for the fulcrum pins and thus limit the extent of rotation of the rockers in the direction in which they are biased by said springs,

During each upstroke of the pitmans `54 the force acting on the levers 50 is such as to cause the fulcrum pins 5| to press upwardly against their stop screws 82; and the tension of the `springs 19 is of sucient magnitude so that the downward force exerted by the pitmans when an orange or grapefruit is being squeezed is not ordinarily enough to cause the rockers 52 to be.

rotated against the tension of said springs. But in event of some obstacle being encountered by the upper jaw-block such as would prevent com pletion of a downward stroke thereof, or such as would entail the need of more power than the motor vis capable of delivering, the resultant downward force exerted through the levers 50.

on the fulcrum pins 5| will overcome the ten-v sion of the springs 19, thereby causing ythe rockers 52 to rotate and the fulcrum pins 5| 'to move downwardly. Thus, the tensile force which must necessarily be exerted through the pitrnans 54 and the corresponding momentary load which must be borne by the motor inorder to complete any downward stroke of the pitmans 54 and crank pins 56 is limited by the tension of the springs 19. In other words, the Vmaximum motor loa-d is determined by the tension of 'the springs 19,

AA cam plate 83 is secured to the rear face of 4one of the two cranks 62 and is revolved thereby in a circular orbit. This cam plate is operatively associated with a group 84 of contact springs and is adapted to actuate said springs in a way which will later be described with reference to -the circuit diagram of Fig. 1l. It will suliice at this point -to note that the function of the cam '83 is to stop the machine at the completion of each cycle with the upper jaw-block 42 in fully elevated position, as shown in Fig. 2.

The upper end of the armature shaft of motor V55 Vcarries a brake drum 86 (see Fig. 4v) with which is associated a pair of brake shoes 81 hinged at V98 and biased by a spring 89 toward engagement with the brake drum. Each of the two vbrake shoes has an inclined surface 90 at its free end (see Fig. 5) and these surfaces are arranged to be engaged and forced apart against the tension of the spring 89 by a lever 9| one `end Iof which is fulcrumed on a bolt 92 which extends 9| downwardlyfas per Fig. 3, thus causing thebrake shoes 81 to be spread apart, thereby `disengaging the brake .drum 96. Conversely, deenergization of the solenoid is effective to release the-lever 9|, as the lever 9| is forced upwardly together with the link 94 and the plunger 96, `whereupon the brake .shoes are drawn 'into -e'ngagexnent with the brake drum by the spring 89.

To prevent the machine being set into operation when the receptacle 2| is not in place within the housing, there is provided a linkage operative in response to the `presence of the receptacle within the housing to effect closure of a pair of contacts in the motor-starting circuit and, conversely, to effect opening of these contacts whenever the receptacle is not in place. This linkage includes an arm 99 located on the under side of the bottom plate I6 and attached at one end to a rocker shaft |00, While its free end is bent up- `wardly to provide .a finger 91 which extends into an opening in said bottom plate to engage a boss '|05 depending thereinto from the bottom of the receptacle. The top of the finger when rocked lto its upper limit .remains depressed below vthe upper face of the bottom plate I6 so as to be positioned 'therebelow and beyond contact from the hand of an operator who is using the machine. vThe rocker shaft |t0 is journaled at its vtwo ends lin the two side flanges of the bottom plate I'6, and xedly attached thereto is a vertical arm |'0l| which, in turn, is pivotally connected at its upper end to one end of a link 1.02, the other end of which link is pivotally `connected to a bellcrank |03 fulcrurned at |04 on the frame vcasting 53. A spring (not shown) biases the rocker shaft |00 clockwise, as viewed in Figs. 2 and 3.

Referring to Fig. 1l, the group 84 comprises contact springs |06, |01, and |08. The contact springs |06 and |01 are so mutually adjusted that their contacts |09 are normally closed, i. e., these contacts 'I 09 are closed when not held out of contact by the bellcrank |03 acting on the contact spring |06. The contact springs |91 and |98 are also so mutually adjusted that their contacts ||0 are Anormally closed, i. e., these contacts ||0 are closed when not held out of contact by reason of the spring |01 being deflected upwardly away from the spring |08 by the cam plate 83. The condition depicted in Fig. 11 is that which obtains when the machine lis at rest and the receptacle 2| has been withdrawn from the housing. Tracing the circuit of Fig. 11, it will be seen that the power supply to the motor 65 and the winding of the solenoid 98 is interrupted at the contacts of "the 'starting switch 24 and at the contacts |09. Hence, the motor is at a standstill `and lthe'brake is applied. If, under the condition statedpthe contacts of the starting switch 24 are closed, nothing will happen because the contacts |09 are still open. But, if, on the other hand, the contacts |09 are closed by virtue of the receptacle 121| being emplaced within the housing, closure of lt'he contacts of the starting switch 24 will 'complete a circuit from the power lead ||2 through -the -contact spring |01, contacts |03. contact spring4 |06, conductor |13, the contacts of thefswitch 24, conductor I I4, motor and the conductor ||5 to the other power lead I6. And at the same time a-parallel circuit will be closed through the winding of the solenoid 98 from the live conductor ||4 to the power lead H0. The

bra-ke 'will thereupon be released and the motor will start. -The consequent rotation of `the cam 83 from'the position in which it is shown in Fig. 11 willresult inalmost immediate release of the contact spring |01, whereupon the contacts ||0 will close. This affords an alternate path through the contacts |0 from the power lead ||2 to the conductor A| |-4 by virtue of which the motor and thesolenoid-continue to be energized to the end vlof v"the machine cycle, i. e., until the cam 83 returns to the starting position (see Fig. l1) and re-opens the contacts H0. When that occurs, both the motor and solenoid are deenergized, and the brake is instantly applied to bring the machine to an abrupt stop, with the upper jawblock 42 in its uppermost position (see Fig. 2).

The procedure in operating the machine consists, quite obviously, in withdrawing the receptacle 2 I, placing therein a whole orange or grapefruit, which is supported and centered on the cutter blades 30, replacing the receptacle within the housing so that the cutter blades 30 line up with the slots 44 in the upper jaw-block, and then pressing the starter pushbutton 25. The machine thereupon goes through its cycle of operation, after which the receptacle is withdrawn for removal of the crushed fruit and expressed juice. The lower jaw-block ordinarily is lifted out of the receptacle to facilitate removal of the crushed fruit and effusion of the juice.

In Fig. 10 there is shown an alternative arrangement which avoids the need for the abovedescribed brake and brake-releasing solenoid. In this instance the motor ||8 is substituted in place of the previously-identied motor 65, and its armature ||9 and armature shaft |20 are reciprocable axiswise in the motor bearings, as well as being rotatable in the usual manner. The lower end of the armature shaft |20 carries a toothed clutch member |22 which is engageable with a similarly toothed driven clutch member |23 in axial alignment therewith and pinned to a shaft |24 journaled in a bracket |25 and keyed to the previously mentioned worm 61. Interposed between the two clutch members |22 and |23 is a helical compression spring |26 biasing upwardly the assembly comprising the armature H9, armature shaft |20 and clutch member |22. In this position the armature is off-center with respect to the associated field poles |27.4 When the motor IIB is not energized, this assembly is held by the spring |26 in the elevated olf-center position in which it is shown and the clutch members are accordingly disengaged. But upon being energized the armature ||9 immediately centers itself axiswise with respect to the eld poles |21 which results in the armature shaft |20 and clutch member |22 being moved downwardly and the clutch being engaged.

The rapidly revolving armature has so much momentum that if continuously coupled to the remainder of the machine a brake is required to stop the machine before it can overrun sufciently to effect reclosure of the contacts H0; but with the motor disconnected the machine will stop promptly because cf the friction involved.

It will be observed that the present apparatus provides a citrus juice press which is particularly suitable for restaurant service andthe like, in which the necessary power is afforded by a small low-cost motor without sacrificing speed, and wherein novel means is provided to prevent the machines being stalled in event of an overlyresistant piece of fruit or foreign objects being encountered by the press jaws. further be observed that the mechanical assemblage has been so conceived and embodied that it will fit within a housing of relatively small over-all dimensions, and of a configuration consistent with modern ideas .of product design.

I claim:

1. The combination, in a press for citrus fruits and the like, of a stationary jaw, a vertically reciprocable jaw disposed above the stationary jaw, y a lever connected at one end to the reciprocable And it will,

jaw and fulcrumed at the other end for reciprocation in a vertical plane, a pitman pivotally connected at one end to the lever, a crank having a crank pin radially spaced from the axis of rotation of the crank and revolvable in a circular orbit, the other end of the pitman being pvotally connected to the crank pin and movable therewith in said circular orbit, a power shaft having its axis of rotation parallel to the axis of rotation of the crank but laterally displaced therefrom, an arm co-axial with and rotatable by the power shaft and extending radially therefrom, the arm having a radially extending slot engaging the crank pin, the crank pin being movable lengthwise of the slot as it traverses said orbit, and power means for rotating the power shaft, the lateral displacement between the axis of rotation of the power shaft and the axis of rotation of the crank being so directed that the axis of the crank pin, extended, approaches va predetermined minimum lateral separation thereof from the axis of rotation, extended, of said arm while the reciprocable jaw approaches the stationary jaw, the predetermined minimum lateral separation being reached approximately concurrently with the end of each downward movement of the reciprocable jaw. A

2. The combination according to claim 1, including a yieldable overload-responsive element operative to limit the load on the crank pin and thus effective to enable the crank pin to complete a cycle of operation notwithstanding the existence of an extraordinary impediment to downward travel of the reciprocable jaw.

3. The combination according to claim 2 wherein the overload-responsive element comprises a spring normally restraining the fulcrumed end of the lever against downward displacement but yieldable to permit downward displacement of the lever-fulcrumed end whenever the load exceeds a predetermined limit.

4. The combination, in a press for citrus fruits and the like, of a stationary jaw, a vertically reciprocable jaw disposed above the stationary jaw, a lever connected at one end to the reciprocable jaw and reciprocable in a vertical plane about a fulcrum located remotely from the reciprocable jaw, the lever being movable transversely of its length at its fulcrum, abutment means for limiting the transverse movement of the lever in one direction, at its fulcrum, a spring biasing the lever toward the abutment means, and power means for actuating the lever to eiect reciprocation of the reciprocable jaw, the spring being yieldable to permit downward movement of the lever at its fulcrum in response to an actuating force applied to the lever in excess of a predetermined magnitude.

5. The combination, in a press for citrus fruits and the like, of a stationary jaw, a vertically reciprocable jaw disposed above the stationary jaw, a lever connected at one end to the reciprocable jaw and reciprocable in a vertical plane, a fulcrum pin for the lever, a rocker reciprocable in a vertical plane, the fulcrum pin being carried by the rocker at a point remote from the center of rotation of the rocker, a spring biasing the rocker in one direction, abutment means for limiting the degree of rotation of the rocker in the direction in which it is biased by the spring, a pitman connected to the lever for reciprocating the same and thus reciprocating the reciprocable jaw, and power means for actuating the pitman, the rocker being rotatable against the spring to permit downward movement of the lever at its fulcrum point in response to a force applied to the lever by the pitman in excess of a predetermined magnitude and in the direction corresponding to dow-nward movement of the reciprocable jaw.

6. The combination according to claim 5 wherein the power means includes a crank, a crank pin carried by the crank and revolvable in a circular orbit, the pitman being connected to the crank pin at a point remote from its connection to the lever, a power shaft having its axis of rotation parallel to the axis of rotation of the crank and laterally displaced therefrom in a certain direction, and an arm carried by and extending laterally from the power shaft, the

arm having a radially extending slot engaging the crank pin, said certain direction being such that the radial distance between the axis of rotation of the arm and the axis of the crank pin is a minimum at or near the lower end of the stroke of the reciprocable jaw.

7. The combination, in a press for citrus fruits and the like, of a removable juice-holding receptacle having a bottom and upstanding walls and p-rovided above the bottom with horizontal supporting means, a stationary jaw arranged within the receptacle upon said supporting means and having top surfaces sloping downwardly in two opposite directions from the center where they intersect, four cutter blades arranged in quadrature and projecting upwardly from the stationary jaw and supported thereby, the blades being shaped to form, conjointly, a nest located above the intersection of the sloping surfaces of the stationary jaw for holding and centering an orange or other citrus fr uit, a vertically reciprocable jaw disposed above and co-operable with the stationary jaw, the reciprocable jaw having a bottom surface complementary to the top surface of the stationary jaw and having four slots arranged in quadrature for reception of the cutter blades individually, and power means for reciprocating the reciprocable jaw.

8. The combination, in a press for citrus fruits and the like, of a housing having a pair of opposed vertical guideways, a stationary jaw positioned between the guideways, a ram reciprocable vertically along the guideways, the ram including a face plate, a reciprocable jaw carried by the face plate and movable with the ram toward and away from the stationary jaw, the jaws being operative, conjointly, to compress a whole citrus fruit therebetween, a pair of parallel laterally spaced levers, each pivotally connected at one end to the ram and each fulcrumed at the other end, a pair of pitmans, each pivotally connected at one end to an intermediate point of one of the levers, individually, and extending downwardly from the levers, a pair of cranks, each having a crank pin pivotally connected to the lower end of one of the pitmans and revolvable in a circular orbit, an arm having an axis of rotation perpendicular to the plane of said orbit and laterally offset from the axis of rotation of the crank, the arm engaging the crank pin and operative to revolve the same through said orbit, and powerdriven means for rotating the arm, the crankpin being free to move relatively to the arm toward and away from the axis of rotation of the arm.

9. The combination according to claim 8 in which the housing is provided in one of its walls with an opening and includes a receptacle in which the stationary jaw is removably mounted,

the receptacle, together with the stationary jaw, lo

`a lever connected at one end to the reciprocable jawl and fulcrumed at the other end for reciprocation in a vertical plane, a pitman pivotally connected at one end to the lever, a crank having a crank pin radially spaced from the axis of rotation of the crank and revolvable in a circular orbit, the other end of the pitman being pivotally connected to the crank pin and movable therewith in said circular orbit, a power shaft having its axis of rotation parallel to the axis of rotation of the crank but laterally displaced therefrom, an arm co-axial with yand rotatable by the power shaft and extending radially therefrom, the arm having a radially extending slot engaging the crank pin, the crank pin being movable lengthwise of the slot as it traverses said orbit, power means for rotating the power shaft, the lateral displacement between the axis of rotation of the power shaft and the axis of rotation of the crank being so directed that the axis of the crank pin, extended, approaches a predetermined minimum lateral separation thereof from the axis of rotation, extended, of said arm While the reciprocable jaw approaches the stationary jaw, the predetermined minimum lateral separation being reached approximately concurrently with the end of each downward movement of the reciprocable jaw, and

an overload-responsive element comprising a spring normally restraining the fulcrumed `end of the lever against downward displacement and yieldable to permit downward displacement of the lever-fulcrumed end whenever the load exceeds a predetermined limit.

1l. The combination with a power-operated press for citrus fruits and the like having a reciprocable ram, of a cam rotatable synchronously with the operation of the press through one cycle of operation of the press, an electric motor for driving the press, an energizing circuit for the motor including a switch, the cam being operable to open the switch in response to each return of the ram to its at-rest position, and further operative to effect closure of the switch immediately following the commencement of `each cycle of operation of the press, a normally open manually operable switch in shunt to the terminals of the rst-mentioned switch, and a third switch in series with the manually operable switch and in shunt through the manually operable switch with the first-mentioned switch, the press further including a removable receptacle adapted to be positioned beneath the ram while the press is in operation, and mechanism normally operative to hold the third switch open when the receptacle is not emplaced beneath the ram, the mechanism being operative in response to the weight of the receptacle when the latter is emplaced, as beforesaid, to close the third switch.

12. The combination with a power-operated press for citrus fruits and the like having a reciprocable ram, of a cam rotatable synchronously with the operation of the press through one cycle of operation of the press, an electric motor for driving the press, an energizing circuit for the motor including a switch, the cam being operable to open the switch in response to each return of the ram to its at-rest position, and further operative to effect closure of the switch immediately vfollowing the commencement of each cycle of loperation of the press, a normally open manually operable switch in shunt to the terminals of the rst-mentio ed switch, and a third switch in Series with t e manually operable switch and in shunt through the manually operable switch with the first-mentioned switch, the press further including a removable receptacle adapted to be positioned beneath the ram while the press is in operation, mechanism normally operative to hold the third switch open when the receptacle is not 10 emplaced beneath the ram, the mechanism being operative in response to the weight of the receptacle when the latter is 'emp1aced, as beforesaid, to close the third switch, a brake eiective to stop the motor when applied, and an electromagnetic solenoid connected with the brake and operative, when energized, to release the brake, the windings of the solenoid being arranged to be energized and de-energized concurrently with the motor.

JESSE H. CLARK.

. 12 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

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